By Muhammad Luqman
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between Health Services Academy of the National Command and Operation Center and the World Health Organisation to impart online training to professional health workers to cope with Covid-19.
This was stated by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Health Services Dr Zafar Mirza while addressing a video conference in the capital Islamabad on Tuesday, Radio Pakistan reported.
He said, under the agreement over 100,000 frontline workers will be imparted online training in Pakistan about usage of protective equipment, adding that frontline paramedical staff and doctors are heroes of the nation, and the government accords top priority to facilitate them.
Pakistan, WHO sign MoU for imparting training to health workers coping coronavirus https://t.co/ENhz9gtVgl
— Radio Pakistan (@RadioPakistan) May 12, 2020
WHO representative in Pakistan Dr Palitha Gunarathna Mahipala signed the agreement.
Representatives of all four provinces, including Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Kashmir, attended the conference via video link.
The nationwide tally of Covid-19 patients has risen 32,916 with 11,868 cases in Punjab, 12,610 in Sindh, 5,021 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 2,158 in Balochistan, 457 in Gilgit-Baltistan, 716 in Islamabad and 87 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
The virus has claimed at least 733 lives while at least 8,555 coronavirus patients have recovered.
Epidemiologists fear that non-observance of SOPs including social distancing and use of masks by the people especially those shopping in the markets for the Eid-ul-Fitr may lead to speedy spread of coronavirus.
Pakistan has further relax lockdown to help people make shopping ahead of Eid , going to be celebrated on May 25.
People are thronging to markets especially in the big cities like Lahore, Karachi, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi without taking any precaution against the contagion.
” If people don’t observe SOPs , we may again impose a lockdown that will be even more strict,” Punjab Province’s Industries Minister, Mian Aslam Iqbal warned on Tuesday.
